KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Tennessee marked its return to the Top 25 by producing a dominant fourth-quarter performance.
Diamond DeShields scored 22 points Thursday as the 24th-ranked Lady Volunteers pulled away in the final period of a 77-66 victory over Missouri. Tennessee (16-8, 7-4 SEC) was playing its first game since returning to the rankings Monday after an eight-week absence.
The Lady Vols said they weren’t concerned about the rankings as much as improving their position in the Southeastern Conference standings and in potential NCAA Tournament seeding. Tennessee and Missouri (16-9, 6-5) entered the night tied for fifth in the SEC.
“This was a must-win for us and them,” DeShields said. “It was going to be a battle. We knew it was going to be a dogfight. We’re trying to put ourselves in position for March.”
Tennessee (16-8, 7-4 SEC) won for the fifth time in its last six games and bounced back from Sunday’s 81-78 double-overtime loss at Georgia. Missouri (16-9, 6-5) has dropped two straight but had won five consecutive games before this skid.
The game was tied 54-all after three quarters, but Tennessee opened the final period with a 17-4 run that was capped by a pair of DeShields 3-pointers. DeShields scored 18 of her 22 points in the second half.
“In the fourth quarter, we really hunkered down on defense,” said Tennessee’s Jaime Nared, who scored 18 points. “I think in the first three quarters, they were just getting easy layups.”
Jordan Reynolds’ 3-pointer with 9:40 left put Tennessee ahead for good. Missouri missed 10 of its first 11 shots in the fourth quarter.
“We had some really good looks,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. “I was really pleased with the looks that we got. It felt like there were probably four or five really somewhat uncontested layups, and we just didn’t convert on them. Other than that, I thought we shot the ball pretty well throughout the course of the game, but those were big-moment shots.”
Before that fourth-quarter run, this was a back-and-forth game. The third quarter alone had seven lead changes and four ties.
Cierra Porter had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Missouri. Sierra Michaelis scored 17 points and Sophie Cunningham added 16.
Reynolds and Mercedes Russell added 12 points each. Reynolds also had eight assists with only one turnover.
“It was a great night for Jordan,” Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said. “She was a great leader for us, and we need that all the time.”
BIG PICTURE
Missouri: Although Missouri entered the night averaging 6.5 3-pointers per game to rank second in the SEC, outside shooting proved costly for the Tigers on Thursday. Missouri was just 2 for 13 while Tennessee was 9 of 17 on 3-pointers.
For the first three quarters, Missouri compensated with its accuracy from two-point range. But the Tigers cooled off considerably in the final period.
Tennessee: The Lady Vols altered their lineup by having guard Alexa Middleton start for the first time since Dec. 29 against UNC Wilmington. Middleton replaced Meme Jackson, who had started Tennessee’s last 18 games.
Middleton ended up with six points and four assists in 34 minutes. Jackson played 14 minutes and scored five points.
KEY STATS
DeShields shot 4 of 6 from 3-point range. She had been shooting just 32.3 percent from beyond the arc this season. … Tennessee outscored Missouri 23-12 in the fourth quarter. Tennessee shot 6 of 8 and Missouri shot 5 of 16 in that final period.
UP NEXT
Missouri hosts Arkansas on Sunday.
Tennessee hosts Texas A&M on Sunday.
Photo credit –Â (Calvin Mattheis/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP) – Â Photo by Associated Press /Times Free Press.
